If you have stale bread at home and don’t want to turn it into yet another jar of breadcrumbs, you’re in the right place! You already know how much I strive to minimize food waste, and how peasant cooking recipes support this principle! They are undoubtedly an incredible resource for our wallet and contribute to ensuring less environmental impact! The bread cake I propose today is inspired by the famous Gallura soup, a simple and flavorful dish from Sardinian tradition, made with sheep or lamb meat broth, stale bread, and cheeses. In my case, however, it turns into a recycling dish, using cauliflower scraps. And so the broth with which the bread is soaked, layer by layer, will be strictly vegetable, thanks also to the pumpkin and onions that enrich it! Plenty of thyme and parsley and Asiago cheese will do the rest. This dish will surprise you with its intense flavor, its softness when cut, and at the same time that golden crust that will form on the surface that will not disappoint your expectations! It will be an incredible comfort food, to be enjoyed on cold winter days and beyond!
If you like these rustic and anti-waste preparations, here are some other ideas to draw inspiration from:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1.1 quarts vegetable broth (based on cauliflower and pumpkin scraps)
- 12.3 oz stale bread (about 1/2 loaf)
- 7.1 oz pumpkin (Butternut type)
- 1 cauliflower (only edible scraps)
- 2 golden onions
- 3.5 oz emmenthal
- 2.8 oz asiago (grated)
- 1.4 oz grated parmesan
- 1 bunch parsley
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- to taste garlic powder
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
Tools
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Wooden Spoon
- 1 Baking Dish
- 1 Knife
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Grater
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Ladle
Steps
Start by preparing a good vegetable broth, cutting the pumpkin into cubes, onions into wedges, and cauliflower scraps into chunks, then salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 25′ or until the vegetables appear soft (fig. 1).
In the meantime, prepare the seasoning: in a large bowl, grate the Emmental with a large-hole grater (fig. 2). Also, add the grated Parmesan, garlic powder, turmeric, pepper, and aromatic herbs, namely finely chopped parsley and stripped thyme (fig. 3).
You’re ready to assemble your bread cake. In a baking dish, spread two ladles of hot vegetable broth at the base, then lay the first layer of bread slices trying not to leave too many gaps (fig. 4). Drizzle with a few more ladles of broth, without overdoing it, as it will need to dry during cooking, and cover with a layer of grated cheese mix (fig. 5).
Add some slices of Asiago cheese (fig. 6) and create one or two more layers, repeating the operation until all ingredients are used up (fig. 7).
Bake in a preheated oven at 392°F for 25′, then another 5′ on grill mode until a golden crust forms on the surface and the broth has dried.
And there you go… your bread cake with pumpkin and cauliflower scraps is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉 The bread cake with pumpkin and cauliflower scraps can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days at most in containers suitable for refrigeration, while freezing is not recommended.
Tips
🔵 Alternatively, you can use the winter vegetables you have in the fridge for the vegetable broth, so feel free to use kale, cabbage, carrots, savoy cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
